Holy Name Cathedral — Attraction in Chicago

Chicago is one of the biggest arch diocese in the USA, and Holy Name Cathedral is the seat of her archbishop (currently His Excellency, the Most Reverend Blase J Cupich). The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed the original cathedral (St Mary and the Church of the Holy Name). The current structure replaced the destroyed church. Brooklyn architect Patrick Keely designed the new church. It was built 1974-1875. By 1888 it was necessary to renovate the church because it had started to sag to one side. By 1915 the church was stable. Part of the renovation also included enlarging the church to accommodate Chicago's rapidly growing population. The church is built in the Gothic Revival style. With a length of 233ft and a width of 126 ft, it can seat 1,110 people. The double bronze entrance doors, designed by Albert Friscia, weigh 1,200 lbs each. They are equipped with a hydraulic system that allows for easy opening. The doors feature the Tree of Life, a motive that is repeated within the church design. The ceiling is 71 ft high. The altar consists of a 6 ton monolithic red and black Rosso Imperiale di Solberga that forms the top (mensa). The base encircles a bronze bas relief with motives from the Old Testament. The altar contains relics of St John the Apostle and St Timothy. Above the altar hangs the Resurrection Crucifix by Ivo Demetz.The Stations of the Cross are by Goffredo Verginelli. The bronze lectern (ambo) is by Eugenio de Courten. It is called Evangelists' Ambo, because it features the symbols of the four evangelists. Also by de Courten is the Ambo of the Writers named for the depiction of the authors of the first letters of the church (Paul, Peter, James and Jude). The archbishop's cathedra, or chair, is simple without much ornaments. The back has panels depicting Christ flanked by Peter and Paul. It is a tradition to hang the tasseled hat (galero) of a deceased bishop from the ceiling until it turns to dust, symbolizing the transient glory of power and fame. In this church, they are located above the cathedra. The Cathedral contains two fine pipe organs: a large 71-stop, 4-manual instrument in the west end gallery constructed by Flentrop firm of Zaandam, Netherlands; and a smaller 19-stop, 2-manual instrument in the south chancel by Casavant Frères of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. The spire of the church is 210 ft high. The steps leading up to the church hold a bit of the darker side of Chicago's history. Like many other Chicago gangsters, Hymie Weiss considered himself a good Catholic. He went to church often. On October 11, 1926, he ascended the stairs to attend Mass at the Cathedral, when he was shot by a rival gangster. Allegedly there are still bullet holes in the front facade of the church from the blast of machine gun fire that killed Hymie Weiss. A character who is almost as famous as Hymie Weiss is Father John Blackwood "Blackie" Ryan, the fictional character of a series of mystery novels from the pen of Father Andrew Greeley. In October 1979, Pope John Paul II became the first Pontiff to visit Holy Name Cathedral, for a prayer service with Chicago's bishops as well as a concert featuring the music of Luciano Pavarotti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in the nave of the cathedral. Holy Name Cathedral underwent extensive emergency repairs from February 2008 through August 2008 due to a piece of the ornate wooden ceiling falling to the floor the night of February 10, 2008. Upon further inspection and more pieces falling—the Cathedral was closed for emergency repairs. It reopened to the public for weekend Masses the weekend of August 30–31. It fully reopened on...

I was in town for the 2016 Chicago Marathon and needed to attend mass, so I went to the 5:15PM Saturday vigil mass since Sunday morning would not be an option. I was not expecting anything special at the mass, as when I attended other masses the night before other marathons that I have run, nothing special occurred and nothing at all was mentioned about the races. To my surprise and delight, the priest welcomed all of the marathon runners to Chicago and even invited us to come up on the altar after the homily for a special blessing, and then they gave us a very nice blessed wrist band with a bible verse to wear during the race, which is exactly what I did. I was shocked at the number of marathoners at the mass who stepped up for the blessing.

The homily was also very good, which intertwined religion with the race. The celebrating priest noted that we would pass through 29 neighborhoods and pass through the hospital district, and the patients would likely be looking at us from the hospital windows wishing they could give anything to trade places with us...I never thought of it that way, which gave me something to think about both during the mass and while running the race.

After the mass, the Rector, who concelebrated the mass, greeted everybody individually, and was very friendly. There was also another concelebrating priest who planned to run the race as well. There was also a spaghetti dinner fundraiser right after the mass. Overall, Holy Name Cathedral made my visit to Chicago for the marathon very special and memorable.

The location is also very convenient, as it is just across street from the Chicago train station on the red line.

I highly recommend Holy Name Cathdral, and will definitely return the next time I come to...

So here's the thing...I'm not trying to give a church a bad rating, but the wedding attended here was mediocre. The bride and everyone else looked lovely, but there were quite a few issues. We could barely hear the priest, even though we were right in front. It was very cold inside. It was a cold day, but the inside offered very little relief. The biggest issue is that he basically shooed us out the door before finishing the ceremony because there were 2 more weddings that day, and the next one needed to start asap. That means there were no pictures taken in the church. I don't think I'd ever been to a wedding where the party was not allowed pictures at the alter. Perhaps the bride and groom already knew that and were fine with that, but I found it to be really rude and obviously monetarily motivated. I suppose it is a famous/popular church at a prime city location? No time for sentimental hullabaloo, such as pictures with family and friends on your "special day." Not impressed. One big star for having a parking lot and free parking. The other star is for allowing the homeless to stay inside out of the cold that day. They were sat in back, to the side, and I thought...